


Through The Dark - One-Shot

by Aerona13



Series: Through The Dark [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, One-Shot, Through The Dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-25
Updated: 2014-03-25
Packaged: 2018-01-17 00:04:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1366648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aerona13/pseuds/Aerona13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little episode that didn't make it into my actual fic Through The Dark, but I love it so I wanted to share it.<br/>Where Louis is always there for Harry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Through The Dark - One-Shot

**Author's Note:**

> This is just an elaboration of the beginning of Chapter 5/4 - Diana.

Louis made sure to keep an eye on Harry as they headed for Australia. Two days wasn't enough time for Harry to have improved as much as he was pretending. Louis tried to keep his mouth shut when he watched Harry brush off the pain when one of his many bruises was accidentally knocked when the entire crew was trying to load equipment into the vans, all packed into the tiny parking lot that they were able to secure from the public. He bit his lips raw watching Harry trying to hide the limp from his still healing ankle as they walked down the long airport terminal to their gate. And he had to close his eyes to keep from watching Harry do everything he could to not fall asleep on the plane to keep from having a nightmare in front of everyone.  
By the time they landed, Louis couldn't watch Harry any more.  
And, of course, it was mid-morning local time when they landed so there was no way they'd be allowed to just crash in their hotel rooms until the next day. No, they headed straight for the arena to begin rehearsals.  
Harry dozed in the van on the ride, startling himself awake every five minutes though the other boys tried to stay quiet and let him rest. His face still held the shadows of bruises and one long scratch down one cheek, so it wasn't hard to feel sorry for him.  
Except that their crew seemed to have no sympathy as they went through the set list again and again until even Niall's boundless energy was dragging. Louis stopped goofing around in the second go-round, hoping that it would make everything go faster. And started again on the fourth when he realized that nothing would make it go faster and the other boys needed something to keep their energy going at all, even if it was just laughing at him dancing like a crazy person and making faces.  
When Zayn demanded to know why they were having to do so many takes, he was told that they should have been rehearsing for days while still in the UK but, because of Harry's injuries, they weren't able to. Harry instantly felt guilty and Louis instantly got pissed.  
By the time they finally arrived at their hotel, all five band members had no problem bypassing the main entrance and the media waiting by having Paul drive them to the back entrance. Harry was asleep on Louis' shoulder and it took several tries to wake him up enough to get out of the van and into the elevator. Louis was grateful that their luggage had already been delivered because he had his hands full keeping Harry upright as they stumbled into their suite.  
They headed straight for the nearest bedroom and both collapsed onto the bed. Louis tugged and maneuvered until he had the blanket out from under Harry and pulled it up to cover them both before gratefully allowing himself to fall asleep, still fully clothed. Harry was out the moment his head hit something soft.

Louis woke up and snuggled into the warm back at his side, groaning when his sore body protested the movement. He wouldn't have considered the previous day a work out, but apparently singing and trying to dance around on the stage for hours had the same results as a few hours in the gym. Harry grumbled and hugged his pillow tighter, fighting to stay asleep.  
Looking at the clock, Louis groaned again. It was the alarm that woke him. They had two hours before their first meet-and-greet and Harry had been ordered to get to wardrobe early so they could make sure his facial injuries were completely invisible.  
“Harry.” Louis shoved weakly at the shoulder in front of his face. “Harry, you have to wake up.”  
“Piss off. I'm sleepin'.”  
“No, you're not. You're talking. C'mon, you get the bathroom first.”  
Harry still didn't get up, so Louis got out of bed, grabbed one arm and tugged until Harry was sitting up, a scowl on his face. “I hate this.”  
Louis laughed. “No, you don't, Curly. You love this. You just hate waking up. Now, hurry up, 'cause I have to go down with you.” He kept hold of Harry's arm because he could see the younger boy ready to fall back to the bed. “I'll cook you breakfast if you don't get up in five seconds,” he continued in a sing-song voice.  
And Harry was out of bed. “No need to use threats, Louis. I was getting up.”  
“Mmhmm. Sure.” Louis waited until Harry closed the bathroom door before crawling back under the blankets. He could get another ten minutes of sleep while Harry was in the shower.  
They made it to the room their stylist had commandeered thirty minutes before the others were due to arrive, so there was plenty of time for Louis to figure out what he wanted to wear before his turn in the make-up chair. Wandering over, he perched on the counter next to the mirror and peered at Harry, impressed by how easily the scratch was being covered without making it obvious.  
“So, will I pass inspection?” Harry asked before grimacing and mouthing “Sorry!” when the woman next to him hissed at him for moving.  
“So long as a fan doesn't kiss your cheek. Just make sure they get you on the mouth and you'll be fine,” Louis joked, making Harry roll his eyes.  
Harry was just being dismissed from the chair when Liam and Zayn arrived together and all three headed for the clothing hanging to one side of the room.  
Louis hopped into the chair. “Alright, love. See if you can improve perfection.”  
The woman rolled her eyes and tsked at the slight fatigue shadows under his eyes. “If this is perfection, we need a new definition.” So Louis pouted until Harry came to get his opinion on his outfit choice.  
An hour later, Louis saw that he was right; Harry really did love what they were doing. He greeted the lucky fans with more enthusiasm than Louis figured he would and seemed much like his old self. He posed for all the pictures they wanted, answered all of their questions, and didn't baulk from the many hugs requested. Louis smiled in the background because, really, Harry was a huge teddy bear sometimes.  
But then they met the last fan, one of the few male fans they'd met, and Harry withdrew slightly. He posed for pictures, but always kept a small space between himself and the body next to him. He accepted a hug, but Louis could tell he was extremely reluctant to do so and dropped his arms almost immediately. Louis saw the green eyes cloud slightly and insisted that the fan give all of them hugs to give Harry a few moments when the only eyes on him were Louis'.  
Harry closed his eyes and forced himself to take several deep breathes to calm the panic rising in his belly.  
By the time the fan turned to say goodbye to Harry, the curly-haired boy was smiling almost like his old self. One last photo was demanded and, though the fan had a hand on Harry's shoulder, Louis ducked under the arm and posed between them.  
They had a couple hours break before they needed to head back to the arena for sound check so, while Niall, Liam, and Zayn decided to wander around the streets a little, Louis playfully nagged Harry into taking a nap with him, having a feeling Harry would tire easily during their first full performance.

Everything was going great. Harry was amazing on stage. The fans were screaming and dancing and singing along. Louis was having a blast making a fool of himself with Niall.  
They were taking a talking break when things went wrong. Louis was walking back toward the middle of the stage where Harry and Zayn were pulling faces behind Liam's back when he saw something flying through the air toward the trio. He couldn't tell what it was, only that it was small and white and moving quickly. Liam and Zayn instinctively ducked as it flew past.  
Harry stumbled backwards and landed hard on his back.  
The fans were laughing and so were the other three boys on stage. Louis hoped he'd been the only one to see the pure panic on the curly-haired boy's face.  
Flipping on his microphone, Louis tried to salvage the situation. “Look at this lad. Tripping over his own feet, I swear.” He reached down and helped Harry to his feet, his blue eyes silently asking if the younger boy was okay; Harry nodded almost imperceptibly. “Must be another growth spurt for the young lad.” Louis grinned out at the crowd and slowly lowered to his knees in front of Harry, making the fans go crazy. “Soon, we'll all be looking up at him like...” he craned his neck to peer up at Harry's astonished face. Then he jumped back to his feet. “But we'll forgive him this time, won't we?”  
A massive wave of 'yes's hit the stage and Louis signaled that they should move on to the next song. “Tell Me A Lie” started and Louis knew he had a few moments before his part, so he quickly searched for the object that had started it all. He found it off to the side and discovered a t-shirt rolled tightly into a ball.  
He moved toward Harry as he sang and, during Zayn's solo, he asked, “You okay?”  
“Yeah,” Harry muttered in his ear. “What was that?”  
Louis quickly unrolled the t-shirt and held it up for Harry to see. When Harry's eyes lit up and he burst out laughing, Louis looked down and grinned, reading “Harry + Louis” printed on the white shirt. He turned to hold the t-shirt up to the fans and another wave of approval roared.  
After that, it was like the incident never occurred. They continued singing and Harry put the t-shirt on at their next costume change, bringing more cheers.  
Even after, no one mentioned Harry's fall. But that was probably because it was coming common for at least one boy to end up on the floor during each concert since they all acted like a bunch of idiots.


End file.
